UCLA law professor Paul Bergman believes
that criminal defense investigators should make
an attempt to interview the witnesses who have
been endorsed by the prosecution. When advising
law students and legal consumers, Bergman
makes the point that police reports may
have omitted or misstated some information.
He shared this and other important tips with
PI Magazine’s associate editor for this article.

For individuals who are deaf or hard of
hearing, navigating the criminal justice system
can be a challenge. Injustices primarily
result from a lack of understanding about
deaf people and deaf culture, as well as the
legal accommodations provided to them
through legislation. Stacy Jones, Director
of Investigations for Mission Possible
Investigations, provides an important look
at how PIs can provide better services and
conduct professional interviews.

Crime staging by offenders with law enforcement
experience are problematic for investigators
because the actual presentation and position
of the body in the scene, as well as the crime
scene itself, will imitate what an actual scene
should look like based on their experience with
police procedures and prior events. Vernon
Geberth shares examples from recent cases.

“…the role of a death investigator is
multifaceted—one must be able to prioritize
and multitask—and unfortunately, both for
investigators and the public we serve, we
can often work days on end with little or no
sleep.” Deena Clawar provides a detailed
look at the world of death investigations and
makes recommendation for what she considers
to be “much needed” improvements.

“I am not advocating paranoia, but awareness.
If you train your body and mind to be aware
of your surroundings, making it so that it
becomes part of the way you think, it will
become second nature,” writes Hakim Eslami,
who is a trainer experienced in keeping investigators
and security professionals safe.

“If a person thinks about only one-tenth of the
information they see, the manner in which they
think about that information becomes extremely
important. The truth about the human brain is
that it’s lazy and efficient; it will try to compile
the most accurate picture that it can while taking
as many shortcuts as possible—this is top-down
processing.”

“In some cases, problems with child
support payments, conflicts over child
custody, concerns about possible elder
abuse, suspicions of infidelity and other
family law questions can be answered
with investigation that includes a large
component of surveillance.”